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Cars cheap - Parts steep

Mitch on Fri September 19, 2003 11:13 PM User is offline

A friend had his side terminal battery leak where the terminal penetrates the case, so it corroded the bolt that holds the cable to the battery.

He went to a GM dealer and found that the bolt is priced at $9.00!!!

I guess they gotta make up the rebates somewhere.

Bigchris on Fri September 19, 2003 11:39 PM User is offline

Yeah, they lose a little bit on each car they sell but make it up on the parts that fall off or corrode away.

NickD on Fri September 19, 2003 11:40 PM User is offline

It's criminal, we just spent $400.00 on the Bravada due to hard starting, the CMFI had a regulator leak down, excessive, the plastic tubes were cracking as was the plastic poppets with embedded check valves, after lots of net searching found on for $230.00, NAPA was $450.00, we replaced the fuel filter, but still a high leak down rate, dropped the tank as the fuel pump was also weak. This is what you get for $100.00:



Ha, where's the fuel pump, looks like a toy motor from a toy car, the pulsator was also bad, not the pulsator itself, but the rubber grommets, a new one was another $41.00, plus another 4 bucks for the sender cam ring, the one in there was a pile of rust. Ha, not too long ago a fuel pump and carb rebuilding kit could be purchased for $2.00 plus $4.00 that would have been the same as the $400.00 we just spent for the similar components. If you think that battery hold down bolt was bad, price out new caliper pin bolts, $13.00 each.

On my $7,400 Cavalier, added up just the two air bags, tires, wheels and the transmission, that came close to $5,000.00.

Bigchris on Sat September 20, 2003 12:28 AM User is offline

Wouldn't it be sweet if we could get a government reg passed that required manufacturers to post the retail parts value on the window stickers of new cars? I wonder if Consumer Reports ever looked into something like that? I'd happily ante up $1000 for a lifetime membership if they could pull that off.

Dougflas on Sat September 20, 2003 6:20 AM User is offline

Nick,
How did you buy a cavalier for $7400.? Trade something in orthousands in gm card savings?

NickD on Sat September 20, 2003 8:43 AM User is offline

Ha, I was perfectly happy with my 86 Civic except for a slow LF caliper brake leak, jacked it up, the rocker panel collapsed and cracked a fuel line, didn't feel like fixing that. Started looking for another newer kick around car, $7,000 for a 94 Civic with a zillion miles on it, you know the story, hit every dealer in three town, papers, and auto trader, all insane. A friend suggested I use my GM card.

The car I got is now listed as equipped for $16,300, this one was a week older and still had the $15,700 tag on it that they honored, but still a 2004 with no miles on the clock. $1,000 off for a cash deal, $3,000.00 rebate, $750 for owning a GM vehicle, and since I had the old GM card, got the full $3,725 refund to bring it down to $7,225, they added dealer prep charges and some destination charge to bring it back up to $7,400.00. Why not? Can't be any worse than a 94 Civic with a zillion miles on it, plus this car had new windshield wiper blades and brand new Goodyear Double Eagle tires where the Civic needed lots of work. Come to think of it, all the parts on the Cavalier were OE and all brand new, I haven't found an old part yet. Plus it had R-134a with a huge parallel flow condenser already installed with ice cold air. Then they told me, except for oil changes, I don't have to do anything for the next 36,000 miles with a six year rust out guarantee. The exhaust is all stainless and I noticed that was brand new too.

I didn't check, but am assuming it has all brand new injectors, filter, and a Delco fuel pump, after much searching this came to $400.00 for the Bravada.

I would have gotten the same rebates off a 2004 Electra, but would have had to write out a check for around $30,000, but would have only gotten about 600 pounds more of car plus a ton of electronic gadgetry I didn't want and maybe an inch or two of interior space. But it did have a fuel pump access plate finally. The Cavalier already has all the power goodies on it plus cruise control and I would have paid extra for hand cranked roll up windows, they don't leave you stranded with a window down during a thunderstorm. Ha, maybe they will start charging extra for some manual controls.

Mitch on Sat September 20, 2003 6:09 PM User is offline

When I priced a Honda Accord a couple of years ago, I figured their parts must be made of Gold or similar material, based on the price of the vehicle.

I found out today that it's the piston rings. The price for the rings for a one cylinder 5.5 Hp Honda lawn mower type engine is $25.00. That would be $400 for 8 cylinders.

The last time I bought a set of name brand Moly filled rings for a small block Chevy, I think the price was $39.95 for all eight cylinders.

NickD on Sat September 20, 2003 7:01 PM User is offline

It wasn't that way even in the 60's, you could buy all the parts for just about anything cheaper than the assembled unit and save a couple of bucks by putting it together yourself.

Dougflas on Sat September 20, 2003 7:20 PM User is offline

Oh yes back in the 60's! I used to buy from the chevy dearler a dual feed new holly 4 barrell for $42.00. Clutch and pressure plates were under 50. bananas. A brandy new 327 block under 300. man, the good old days!

Bigchris on Sat September 20, 2003 8:13 PM User is offline

In '61 I picked up a nice '54 Ford Wagon that had turned a bearing for $50. A crank and a full set of main and rod bearings cost $75.

NickD on Sun September 21, 2003 9:29 AM User is offline

Learning the hard way, I picked up a real nice 48 Plymouth coupe, in 1955 for $50.00 with a rod knock. I dropped the pan, and with emery paper was hand sanding the crank to get rid of a high spot. Got lazy and the brilliant idea of rotating the crank by hitting the starter. Well the engine popped right over and threw that loose rod through the side of the block. I was in tears. But I went to the wrecking yard and got a 54 Dodge pickup truck engine, a direct bolt in with more cubes complete with everything on it, starter, generator, carb, air cleaner, the works, it only had 8,000 miles on it and the price was $65.00. That was one fast coupe for it's day, put 24,000 miles on it and sold it for a hundred, the tires were getting thin.

Ever since that day, I think twice before hitting the starter. A good friend used a remote starter to fire a vehicle, it had a MT and he never checked that the car was in gear. Car started and leaped forward crushing both his knees against a concrete wall, ouch.

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